Legend of the Harpies - Return to the Beginning

When it comes to Astrid, little change has been made in the nature of the Greek mythological characters.  She is vile, vicious, nasty, and wants to steal what others have for her own gain.  In mythology she was a bird with a woman's face sent to punish the Thrace King Phineas by taking the food set before him, in Valens she wants to steal the power of those around her and gain the riches of the world.  However, you can be sure there will be another Harpy introduced at some point in the stories and this one may be everything Astrid is not -- we will just have to wait and see.I find it interesting that so many things from mythology were used throughout history in so many different ways.  The Gryphon for instance, became a heraldic image of power, but the harpy became the sarcastic, venomous name for a hateful woman.  Even Shakespeare referred to avoiding the bitter tongued woman in his play Much Ado about Nothing.Astrid does, it would seem, have a saving grace.   She is proud of her partner Horace Gruen, the man responsible for creating the Humani.  The Humani are the genetic construct of animal and Valens DNA.   At some point we may wish to explore why the Humani take on only the human aspect of the Valens – but for now we will have to let that question percolate.   After all, Astrid can’t create these creatures; she can only subjugate them and gain power from those around her who want to possess them.Hope you enjoy the variations in the Valens books that take you away from the original myths and give you a new way to look at the amazing creatures that are part of the legend, lore and myth of our world.  See you again soon.